I am not sorry if you find this post to be political. Because it isn’t only political, it is also true and can’t be questioned because the facts speak for themselves.
Here is the breakdown of inflation over the the last several years.
- U.S inflation rate for 2023 average has been 4.5% average this year thus far.
- U.S. inflation rate for 2022 was 8.00%, a 3.3% increase from 2021.
- U.S. inflation rate for 2021 was 4.70%, a 3.46% increase from 2020.
- U.S. inflation rate for 2020 was 1.23%, a 0.58% decline from 2019.
- U.S. inflation rate for 2019 was 1.81%, a 0.63% decline from 2018.
Today the CPI (Consumer Price Index) which is how inflation is measured, will be released as well, it is expected to be around 3.5%. Which is up .03 over last month. So it is going in the wrong direction.
If you are like most people you most likely feel like your money doesn’t go as far as it used to? And you would be right, because it doesn’t.
The federal reserve and our current president can say that inflation is down from its peak last year of like 9 percent. But prices don’t go back down. They compound.
So let’s add it up when you look at the peak in the below chart, you must calculate based on that number.
That means you are paying an extra $709 dollars a month than you were two years ago. Because once prices rise they very rarely go back down. Check this link here for additional information.
Inflation impacts the poor and the middle class more than any other socioeconomic group. And you could argue that it impacts the middle class even more, because they usually don’t have any government assistance and typically pay the highest taxes.
So what can you do about it?
First you must vote for political leaders who care about this. And I mean really care.
Although you only see the impact of how much more it is costing you every month when you are running your house hold. There are many policies that are driving those increased costs.
Here is a quick list of inflationary policy decisions:
- Open Border
- Student Loan payoffs
- Increased spending in government
- Sending money to fight foreign wars
- Increase in subsidies such as the SNAP program
- Limits on the supply side of oil and gas
- Policies that prohibit businesses from doing business and creating competition.
- Printing more money
Keep in mind the government doesn’t produce anything. So anytime they say cut expenses or increase expenses that money isn’t coming from them. It is either coming from you as a tax or coming from you a cut in something that the government should be providing you. Who you vote for matters.
A second thing you can do is invest any extra money you have in to things that benefit from inflation. Because unfortunately it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as we can see. Investing in a business, increased skills sets, real estate, are all hedges against inflation.
I don’t want to be a doomer. I am just stating the obvious. Are government hasn’t showed any restraint in their spending. They are going to continue to spend and cut minimally. Nobody is coming to save you. You have to save yourself.
To your success and your future.
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